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A lack of appropriate management skills have been cited as the key cause of that failure. One way to offset a lack of management skills is to outsource them to experts. For most small businesses this is beyond the reach of their limited budgets. A more viable option is to develop the skills you need to manage your business operation. Let’s examine the key competencies you will need.

Strong sales and marketing skills are vital in the promotion of your small business and its products and services.

As the business owner you must take responsibility for the management of your finances.

It is essential that you develop an awareness of your legal rights and obligations.

You need to build operational management skills in order to develop the systems and processes.

It is important to remember that each of the required skills are not discrete skill sets. To be truly effective as a small business manager, you need be able to integrate each of the core management skills.

If you want a successful business then start to think differently about the business that you are in. Your business will grow very quickly once you begin to think, act and feel like a marketer of your business and not a doer. And there’s a difference.

One of the biggest mistakes small business owners tend to do is get caught up in the everyday tasks and workload of their business. The Doer roll unfortunately ends up killing your business growth, if that is all that you are focused on. When you start to focus on your business from a marketer’s perspective -you will begin to propel your business forward.

It is difficult to generate a change in your business by doing what you do better or doing more of it. However it is quite simple to deliver a step change if you take action on marketing your business.

When you think of yourself as a marketer of your business, then very quickly your business will take a step change. If you remain on the treadmill working hard and long hours every day and week to stay where you are, you will never end up anywhere different.

The trick is to keep things simple and stay focused.

One way to get focused is to ask yourself “what do I need to do today to get more leads and customers and how am I going to achieve this?

One of the most useful and successful strategies is to Make a daily action plan.

Spend 90 minutes per day to write your action plan for the day. How are you going to bring in more leads and sales today? This may seem extreme, but if you stick to it, you will see results. Get creative and don’t be afraid to be different in your approach. Test your marketing campaigns and tweak them daily, you will soon see what is working and what is not.

Spend your time looking at new products or how to improve your current products or services, look at new Ad campaigns and analyze the results, what offers and activities are ongoing, write email campaigns strategies and content for sales, think about the time required to Network with like minds in your field or niche market, online and offline. Start looking at where you can outsource or delegate daily tasks so you can free up the time to work on your business rather than in your business.

This 90 minute session per day is all about how you can make your business more successful.

Yes, 90 minutes every day. It is imperative to do this, no matter how busy you are.

Find a quiet place so you are not disturbed; Lock yourself away from any distraction so you can focus on your action plan for the day (if mornings are not practical, then right the action plan for the following day, the night before, you are the best judge to fit this into your schedule).

This mentality of thinking will change the way you work in and on your business. Think like a marketer and propel your business forward. By doing this in four to 6 weeks, you will begin to see focused and measurable results. Your business can start to look very different to what it looks like today.

So now that you are getting more leads and customers, how do you intend to keep them?

Building good customer relationships builds trust and return business. Always over deliver and listen to your customer’s needs. Treat your client/customer as the most important person in the world. If you make them feel special, they will keep coming back.

Starting your own business is like putting pieces together in a production line. So what do you need to start your own business? Below is guide on how to start a business step by step:

Step 1

You will need to first of all program your mindset to a positive setting. This will be better achieved by clearly noting down your goals and how you are going to achieve your targets to fulfill those goals. Having clearly defined goals helps to keep you focused on making your business a success. If you encounter any temporary hiccups, try to keep focusing on the end results to keep you motivated.

To help me keep focused I set myself weekly goals to fulfill and try to avoid any minor distractions that will take my attention away from achieving my targets.

Step 2

The next part of the process is deciding what product or service you are going to be selling as this, in effect, will determine whether you need premises and staff or not. Without a doubt, bricks and mortar business are more costly to set up and maintain as they involve premises, wages, insurances and often large reserves of stock. One way of reducing business start up costs is by running a business from home but this will largely be determined by the business that you are going to start as some businesses need a business premise and staff.

I am fortunate enough to be able to run both my current businesses from home whereas when I started my first business, namely a chain of convenience stores, I obviously needed business premises.

Step 3

Once you have decided what business that you are going to start, you will then need to decide on a name for your business. Creating a good name for your business is important. When choosing a name for a business, it is important to make sure that the name is not already in use, otherwise you could be sued.

I personally used to think that the name that you choose for your company should reflect what your business is about. However many successful companies have had huge success from unrelated trade names for their business… Apple is a great example of this! It is still unclear why Steve Jobs chose this name but some believe that it may have been thought of whilst he was working on a community farm or due to his love of Apple records.

Once you have chosen your name you will need to register it with Companies House if you are going to be a limited company.

Step 4

Regardless of whether you are starting an online business or a bricks and mortar one, it is important to create a website and domain name for your business. It is possible to create a website quite cheaply (often less than £70 if you use word press).
You will then need to buy a domain name to use for your website. You will need to renew this domain name periodically, depending on what arrangement you make with the hosting company.

Step 5

The next step in the process, when starting out in business, is marketing your products or services as cheaply and effectively as possible. After all there is no point in owning your own business, if you do not attract any customers to purchase from you.

If your budget allows for paid advertising like banner advertising, then it is important to make sure that you choose the most appropriate place to advertise e.g. If you are running a business from home make sure that you select a site that targets people wanting to work from home e.g. entrepreneur magazines and make sure that your banner is positioned on the best page, namely an interesting page that people will take enough time to browse over, to notice your advertisement.

If you do not have any budget available for marketing your new business, then social media sites like Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest offer a great free means of marketing your business.

Other free ways that you can market your new business include video marketing, blogging and writing articles. You could also publish a press release to make people aware of your new business.

Step 6

Finally you will need to employ an accountant who will be able to offer you valuable advice including any ways that you may be able to offset any of your business start up costs. They will also be able to process your annual accounts and returns for you.

These six points are what I regard as being main things that you need to start your own business.

It is important to realize that all corporations and businesses have the same system, what sets them apart is how they manage to succeed in standing out above their competitors. When owning your own business, that is how you too will succeed, namely by choosing an in demand product or service and by branding and marketing your product to stand out above the rest.